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Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

Yann Tiersen Makes American Debut With Stirring New Album 'Dust Lane'

French composer and musician Yann Tiersen will release his American debut album Dust Lane today, October 12 via Anti Records. Tiersen is a consistently evolving artist who merges classical instrumentation with flourishes of folk, modern pop and atmospheric post punk. While his soundtrack to the hit indie film "Amelie" initially introduced Tiersen to a wider audience, it has been his riveting live performances - including a recent electrifying set at Coachella - and engaging recordings which have continued to expand Tiersen's dedicated fan base.

Dust Lane is an ambitious and emotional work which utilizes vintage electronics and lush choral textures to create a moving cinematic soundscape. The album was mixed by Ken Thomas (Sigur Ros) and features an assortment of instrumentation from acoustic guitars, mandolin, banjo, bouzouki and toy drums to electric guitars and bass, drums and vintage analogue synthesizer. The vocals are a combination of lush choruses with Matt Elliot (who has worked with Mogwai, Blonde Redhead, Thurston Moore, The Pastels) providing stirring narration on several tracks. The end result is a genre defying yet always engaging album of immense power.

Dust Lane, (Tiersen's) new stateside debut, stands unattached to any movie, but it remains very much a soundtrack. It is a work of high drama: gushing choruses, sweeping orchestrations and ominous vocals often spoken in the furtive tone of a thriller. Performed almost entirely by Tiersen, the album deals with dark, personal themes in the somewhat jubilant, very public style that's increasingly employed on rock albums about sorrow. - Time Out New York

You won't find too much sonic similarity between his accordion driven soundtrack for "Amelie" and this dark rock record -- his first in English -- though it is no less gorgeous or indeed, cinematic. The result of Tiersen's island recordings (partly recorded in the Philippines too) vary from slow burn, macabre psychedelic rock explosions like "Dark Stuff" and "Till the End" to the hazy pop of "Amy," or the driving battle hymn, "Palestine." Then there's the delightful, little earthquake, album closer, "Fuck Me," pop gold. - IFC.com